Barney Rubble
This article is about the fictional character from The Flintstones (PBS Kids Bookworm Bunch's very first show ever). For the song by The Twang, see Barney Rubble (song) Barney Rubble is a fictional character in the television animated series The Flintstones. He is the diminutive blonde-haired caveman husband of Betty Rubble and adoptive father of Bamm-Bamm Rubble. His best friends are his next door neighbors, Fred and Wilma Flintstone. Barney's personality was based on that of Ed Norton on the 1950s television series The Honeymooners, played by Art Carney. As such, Barney tended to be much more jovial-minded and easygoing than his friend Fred, who was slightly smarter than Barney in some matters and slightly dimmer than him in others. Like Ralph Kramden on The Honeymooners, Fred was constantly on the lookout for get-rich-quick schemes, while Barney, like Norton, found life satisfactory as it was but participated in said schemes because Fred was his friend. Usually after Fred had hatched one of his plans, Rubble would usually show his agreement by laughing dumbly and saying "er huh huh... OK, Fred!" or "huh huh huh... whatever you say, Fred!" Barney's interests included bowling, playing pool, poker, tinkering around in Fred's garage and playing golf (though there were episodes where Barney did not know how to play golf). He, like Fred, was also a member of the Loyal Order of Water Buffalos lodge and its predecessor in earlier episodes, the Loyal Order of Dinosaurs. He is also a talented pianist and drummer. In the first episode of the original series he was an inventor of a hand-powered helicopter. Though clearly depicted as being in better shape than Fred, he isn't shown to be quite as enthusiastic sportsman as Fred is. This distinction can be attributed to Fred's fondness of food, though Barney is shown to be at least as capable of excessive appetite on a number of occasions. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Barney_Rubble&action=edit&section=1 edit Biography While the mid-1980s spinoff series The Flintstone Kids depicts Barney as a child, the series seems to be mostly apocryphal due to its presenting Barney as a childhood friend of Wilma and Betty (vs. the original series' assertion that they first met as young adults). Still, the series' assertions that Barney had at least one younger brother, Dusty, was a childhood friend of Fred, and was the son of artist Flo Slate Rubble and car dealer Robert "Honest Bob" Rubble might be taken as valid. The original series also suggested in one episode that Barney was the nephew of Fred's boss, Mr. Slate, though subsequent episodes and spinoffs don't seem to support this claim. As a kid Barney worked in "Rock City". As young adults, Barney and Fred worked as bellhops at a resort, where they first met Wilma and Betty-who were working as cigarette Girls. Eventually, Barney married Betty (as Fred did Wilma). Several episodes and spinoffs suggest that Barney, along with Fred, spent some time in the army early in their marriages. While the subject of Barney's occupation (or even if he had one) was never given during the original series**, subsequent spinoffs suggest Barney went to work at the Slate Rock and Gravel Company quarry alongside Fred at some point after the original series; possibly in some office role. An episode of the original series does have a brief scene of Barney working at the Granite Building. When speaking to an upper-crust snob in another episode, Betty declares Barney is in "top-secret" work; but that might have been a cover for a low-level job or unemployment, or perhaps an in-joke meaning that Barney's job was unknown even to the show's writers. It could also be possible that both Fred and Barney work at the quarry, but may work in different sections of it, under different bosses. In one episode, Barney's boss tells him to "put down his broom," which implies some sort of janitorial works is involved. In a majority of spin-offs and movies, Barney has been portrayed as working in the quarry as a dino-crane operator, alongside Fred. Around the fourth season of the original series, Betty and Barney found an abandoned infant on their doorstep, by the name of "Bamm-Bamm." A court battle ensued between the couple and a wealthy man who also had wanted to adopt Bamm-Bamm. Barney and Betty were successful in their efforts to adopt Bamm-Bamm because the wealthy man gave up (after winning the case) upon learning his wife became pregnant, after which he became a staple character on the series. For a number of episodes after Bamm-Bamm's debut, there is no sign of him on the show. In the fifth season, the family buys a pet hopparoo (a combination of a kangaroo and dinosaur) named Hoppy. After Bamm-Bamm became a teenager, Barney joined the police force with Fred. Both characters were paired with the Shmoo from Li'l Abner. He later became grandfather to Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm's children, Chip and Roxy. Although he was friends with Fred, even he (Barney) lost his patience with him sometimes. The best example comes in I Yabba-Dabba Do!: after losing his patience with Fred for ruining Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm's wedding, he decided to leave Bedrock. He changed his mind after Fred apologised. In several of the original episodes of the series, Barney can be seen with his eyes depicted as two ovals or (occasionally) circles shown only as dark circular outlines. Other episodes show his eyes as being completely filled in with black, very similar to Wilma's eyes. However, there are three occasions where he was seen with whites in his eyes, in the episodes "The Engagement Ring," "Ventriloquist Barney" and "A Haunted House Is Not A Home". In "The Engagement Ring," the whites in Barney's eyes appear when Fred suggests that he spar with a fearsome boxer in order to earn enough money to buy Betty a belated engagement ring. In "Ventriloquist Barney," the whites in Barney's eyes appear when he describes the terrifying facial features of wrestler Bronto Crushrock. In "A Haunted House in Not A Home," the whites in Barney's eyes appear when Fred hits him on the head after Barney frightens him by gargling in the bathroom too loudly. His favorite foods are Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles which Fred owns and Barney tries to steal the Cereal many times in the Commercials. He lives at 224 Rocky Way. **Update on Barney Rubble's occupation. A rerun episode of The Flintstones, identified in the closing credits as being from the opening season of 1960 (MCMLX, info here: http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=flintstones ), shows Barney's job clearly. The rerun episode that aired on Cartoon Network's "Boomerang Network" at 7:00pm CST Jan 21, 2010 clearly showed Barney Rubble working at a company called "Pebble Co. Rock and Gravel". In the episode, Fred thinks a baseball doubleheader that he wants to attend is scheduled during his workday. So he calls his boss, Mr. Slate, pretending he has a cold, to get out of work. Mr. Slate believes the ruse and lets him off. Fred tells Barney to do the same thing so they can both go. So Barney calls "Mr. Pebble", his boss, who tells Barney he must come into work and see the on-site nurse. Fred and Barney pull up to the front door of the company and the name on the front of the building is clearly seen. Their plan goes awry when Barney, attempting to fake a fever with the nurse, overheats an oral thermometer to over 300F. This naturally alarms the nurse who promptly sends Barney to the hospital, ruining their chance to see the baseball game. Later in the episode, "Mr. Pebble" calls Barney at home and Betty answers. Mr Pebble informs Betty that the game(s) were actually that night and he had two tickets to give to Barney, but gave them to someone else since Barney was sick. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Barney_Rubble&action=edit&section=2 edit Marriage Unlike Fred, Barney has never been shown with any woman aside from his wife. However, an exception for this is made in The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas when he is invited to go to a buffet with Roxy, though he is not married to Betty at this point, but they are dating. Betty sees Barney wiping cream off Roxy after he accidentally knocks a cake onto her. Betty is hurt, mistakenly believing this to be an intimate gesture. Another exception is made in A Flintstones Christmas Carol when an actress named Maggie appears and every man at the Quarry, including Barney, is surprised over her beauty. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Barney_Rubble&action=edit&section=3 edit Portrayal Mel Blanc was the principal voice of Barney Rubble, although Daws Butler (who previously voiced Ned Morton, a mouse version of Ed Norton (the inspiration for Barney Rubble), in the Looney Tunes short The Honey-Mousers) briefly assumed the role while Blanc recovered from a car wreck.[1] Since Blanc's death, Frank Welker, Jeff Bergman, Stephen Stanton, Seth MacFarlane, Kevin Michael Richardson and Scott Innes have all performed the role. In the 1994 live action Flintstones movie, Barney was portrayed by Rick Moranis. In the 2000 prequel, The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas, he was portrayed by Stephen Baldwin. In a Toshiba commercial he was voiced by Scott Innes. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Barney_Rubble&action=edit&section=4 edit Appearances Barney has also made a cameo appearance on the show Dexter's Laboratory. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Barney_Rubble&action=edit&section=5 edit Notes #'^' Mel Blanc http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Barney_Rubble&action=edit&section=6 edit External links *Webrock - The Flintstones and Hanna Barbera Page *In "The Flintstones" what was Barney Rubble's job? |- style="height: 2px" | |- | class="navbox-group"|Television series | class="navbox-list navbox-even" style="padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; border-left: 2px solid; width: 100%; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left"|''The Flintstones'' (1960-1966) · The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show (1971-1972) · The Flintstone Comedy Hour (1972-1974) · Fred Flintstone and Friends (1977-1978) · The New Fred and Barney Show (1979) · Fred and Barney Meet the Thing (1979) · Fred and Barney Meet the Shmoo (1979-1980) · The Flintstone Comedy Show (1980-1982) · The Flintstone Funnies (1982-1984) · The Flintstone Kids (1986-1988) · Dino: World Premiere Toons (1995-1997) · Cave Kids (1996) |- style="height: 2px" | |- | class="navbox-group"|Television specials | class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; border-left: 2px solid; width: 100%; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left"|''A Flintstone Christmas'' (1977) · Hanna-Barbera's All-Star Comedy Ice Revue (1978) · The Flintstones: Little Big League (1978) · The Flintstones Meet Rockula and Frankenstone (1979) · The Flintstones' New Neighbors (1980) · Fred's Final Fling (1980) · Wind-Up Wilma (1981) · Jogging Fever (1981) · Yogi Bear's All Star Comedy Christmas Caper (1982) The Flintstones' 25th Anniversary Celebration (1986) · The Flintstone Kids' "Just Say No" Special (1988) · Hanna-Barbera's 50th: A Yabba Dabba Doo Celebration (1989) · A Flintstone Family Christmas (1993) |- style="height: 2px" | |- | class="navbox-group"|Television films | class="navbox-list navbox-even" style="padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; border-left: 2px solid; width: 100%; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left"|''The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones'' (1987) · The Flintstones in: I Yabba-Dabba Do! (1993) · The Flintstones in: Hollyrock-a-Bye Baby (1993) · A Flintstones Christmas Carol (1994) · The Flintstones: On the Rocks (2001) |- style="height: 2px" | |- | class="navbox-group"|Theatrical films | class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; border-left: 2px solid; width: 100%; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left"|''The Man Called Flintstone'' (1966) · The Flintstones (1994) · The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000) |- style="height: 2px" | |- | class="navbox-group"|Other media | class="navbox-list navbox-even" style="padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; border-left: 2px solid; width: 100%; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left"|Pinball · Pebbles cereal · Flintstones Chewable Vitamins · The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera (1990) |- style="height: 2px" | |- | class="navbox-group"|See Also | class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; border-left: 2px solid; width: 100%; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left"|The Jetsons |- style="height: 2px" | |- | class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="2"|See also: List of works produced by Hanna-Barbera |} |} Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barney_Rubble" Category:Characters from PBS Kids Bookworm Bunch Category:Adults